MIKE-ISMS [ changing the fitness industry one made-up word at a time ]

Hey all – Mike here! If you’ve been around Valeo for any time at all, you know that rarely am I ever at a loss for words. Sometimes, I even find some extra ones!

If you know anything else about me, you might know my passion for strength and the importance of posture. Some of the biggest offenders of this posture problem are the muscles that get weak from sitting, especially if we are hunched over a desk all day – the glutes (butt) and the lats (back).

The powerful glute muscles are largely responsible for hip extension, the strongest human movement; and the lats, sometimes called the “spine protectors,” pull the arms behind the body and help to provide stability to the torso.

Activation of these large muscles is paramount to enjoying a strong, capable body that not only helps us lift more weight – safely – but also keeps us upright and in good posture! Without strong, engaged lats and glutes, our posture often looks something like this:

At Valeo, we are continually working hard to coach our members to use these muscles, but saying “recruit your glutes” or “activate your lats” is just too wordy, right?! So, in order to systematize our coaching and to use an economy of words in our cueing, hitherto and henceforth, the use of butts and backs shall be called “reGLUTEment” and “LATivation.”

“Reglutement” and “lativation” will, of course, take the fitness world by storm,and you heard them first here at Valeo! Though you won’t find them yet in Webster’s Dictionary… just take my word for it. 🙂